BRYAN, Texas (KRHD) — The Rudder Rangers football team is gearing up for the upcoming season with a mix of veteran leadership and promising young talent, despite graduating several key playmakers from last year's squad.
The team's energy and dedication during summer workouts have impressed both returning players and coaching staff. Senior running back Brandon Brown has been encouraged by the commitment shown by new players.
"So far so good, they've been putting in a lot of work and dedication to this team and shown up to all the summer workouts so they can be better," Brown said.
Head coach Eric Ezar has been particularly pleased with the enthusiasm displayed by the younger players moving up in the program.
"They come in the field house, they've got big smiles on their faces, they're so excited to be there, and so as coaches that's always a bright spot cause you have these young kids to mold to get them where you need to be," Ezar said.
The Rangers are looking to bounce back from a disappointing finish to last season. After starting 6-0, the team lost three of its final four games and missed the postseason entirely.
The returning seniors are determined to finish stronger this year and secure a playoff berth.
"Most of the seniors, we're eager to get back to that spot that we left off at. Yeah, we might not have all the players that we had last year, but that doesn't change how we feel about it," Brown said.
"I feel like we're very motivated, losing to some teams we shouldn't have lost to, close games, just a mental thing. Losing one, we can't just keep losing, we have to get back up, knowing it's the next week ahead, we have to stay strong and keep moving forward," senior defensive tackle Shon Godoy said.
"We're just going to go out there and work on getting better every week till we get to district and hopefully we're going to be starting to crest at that time," Ezar said.
The Rangers will open their season at home against New Caney West Fork on Friday, August 29, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
